Let the Chips Fall
by Marissa Flynn
Summary: Marissa goes forward in time and is distressed that Phineas and Isabella didn't get together as soon as she'd hoped. When she goes back in time to try and change it, she realizes she should have just 'Let the Chips Fall'. Contains spoilers to 'Act Your Age'. Read at your own risk!
1. Waiting

**As promised, I have now seen AYA (thanks to a link I found on tumblr. Once the episode is available on iTunes, I'm buying it though), and I am posting this story. I am somewhat far into it, but I won't be updating every five minutes on this story. I really want people to like this one. I don't know why, but I think this story is actually pretty good. I'm gonna continue to work in advance in this story as well as try to update some other stories like 'Dolls and Memories', 'Double Trouble' and 'Uprising of Other Alt Doof', but I can't promise anything. Also I was inspired to write another shot involving 'Fear of Fire' so I'll be turning that into a two-shot. Anyway, here it is (I'm not going to review AYA since I understand some haven't seen it yet.) **

**I do not own Phineas and Ferb, but I own Marissa Flynn as well as this story. **

**Read, review and enjoy**

**"Let the Chips Fall"**

* * *

It was a sunny day in Danville. All the elementary school kids were still in classes. For some odd reason, Danville's High Schools were let out earlier than Elementary and Middle Schools. Nobody really understood it, but that's how it was. Since teenagers would be teenagers, most of the kids went to the mall or went inside to watch TV or play games on their gaming devices or computers. One girl in particular was unlike all the other teenagers of her age though. Even her sister was among the status quo of teenagers. For one thing she didn't have many- -if any- -friends her own age.

Marissa Flynn sat in the shade under the big tree in the backyard. She gazed up at the sky, but she occasionally looked at her cell phone to check the time. By 'occasionally' of course it meant she constantly checked it every five minutes. She sighed in boredom. It was only two-thirty. Her brothers and their friends wouldn't be out of school for another half an hour yet, and including the bus ride home. Phineas had texted her during his lunch break about a bunch of new project ideas he had to build when they got home. Despite summer being over, they were going to make the most of every day no matter what. Even during the winter, Marissa knew Phineas wasn't going to let the cold stop him from seizing every day. School was just a minor setback, right? Right.

"Ugh, come on, clock. Just turn to three o'clock already," she complained.

Like her brother, Phineas, she didn't like boredom. Unfortunately she wasn't as gifted as he was in inventing and building things. The best she can do is draw and write stories. That doesn't exactly help with inventing though. A creative mind is good, but her mind isn't the 'inventor's creative mind'. She stared at the clouds, and she looked for cloud shapes like she did with the boys when they were little. Funny as it was, she kept seeing shapes of her brothers and their friends. One in particular got her thinking. The shape seemed to look like Phineas and Isabella holding hands. Suddenly every cloud Marissa saw warped into an image of those two being a couple. She sighed as she wondered when those two would get together. They were meant for each other. Then again they were only in grade school, so maybe Phineas just wasn't into girls like that yet. That was reasonable, right? Right.

* * *

"_I don't get it, Marissa. He seems so focused on his inventions. I mean we were in PARIS, and he didn't even notice me!" Isabella fretted. _

"_Well," Marissa replied, "to be fair there was the bet. He was probably under a lot of pressure, Isabella." _

_Isabella sighed, "You're right. I guess I understand that. What about all those other times though?" _

"_Hm, you could just tell him." _

"_I couldn't be MORE obvious with these hints though!" _

"_He's a boy, Isabella. Boys don't get hints like that." _

"_Seems the others do." _

"_Well...look at my mom. She's extremely oblivious to our big ideas. Maybe obliviousness just runs in the family." _

"_You and Candace notice." _

"_Okay, that's true, but maybe- -" _

"_Face it! Maybe's not even interested in me." _

"_If you're too nervous to tell him, I could." _

"_No way, if it gets out to him that I like him. It could ruin our friendship!" _

"_You're being really cliche, you know that, don't you?" _

"_Maybe...but you can't tell him. Please, Marissa." _

_Marissa sighed, "Alright."_

* * *

Being sworn to secrecy was such a pain in the neck for Marissa. As the summer went on longer, she noticed more and more hints dropped, and she noticed Phineas vaguely dropped hints of his own. Had he known he'd dropped hints that he liked her, or was it all accidental? Maybe things would change now that they were in school again. Yeah, Phineas wouldn't be surrounded by blue prints and inventions. Plus, he'd be surrounded with people that probably started coupling up. It'd be just a matter of time before he got together with Isabella, right?

The questions rang in her head. Was Phineas really that oblivious, or did he truly catch on or secretly like her back? It started to give her a headache. However the calmness of day helped her fall asleep. When she woke, Phineas' deep blue eyes were staring at her. Phineas smiled at her waking, and she did a small yawn stretch routine.

"Morning, sleepy head," Phineas greeted, "have a nice nap?"

"I was waiting for you guys to get off the bus," she answered, "so did you get those projects done?"

"No, I wanted to wait for you," Phineas answered, "I know you like being included with us."

"What did you do in the meantime?"

"Homework," Phineas answered.

"On the first day?"

"Okay, fine, I did my homework way in advance, and you know I don't wait till the last minute," Phineas chuckled.

"Yeah," Marissa giggled, "so how's Isabella?"

"Isabella? Oh, she's fine. We have all our classes together."

"You're in elementary school. Enjoy it while you can."

Both siblings laughed, and they went inside. Everyone- -Isabella, Ferb, Buford, Baljeet and even Irving- -was on the couch watching Pinhead Pierre since their current TV channel was having a 'Back to the Past' marathon of it's older shows. Everyone seemed to be okay, but Marissa could see Isabella was distressed. Either something happened at school, or she and Marissa had the same thought today. Unfortunately it seemed that's what the problem was. Phineas was oblivious as always. Apparently she'd dropped hints all day, and of course, he didn't get them. Would he ever get them?


	2. Phinabella on the Mind

Marissa woke up to not her alarm, but- -as always- -Phineas' voice bragging about how he beat it every morning when he woke up. Phineas was always an early riser. In return, Marissa and Ferb were too. Each took turns in the bathroom and bedroom (given they were different gender they had to do some things separate after all). When they headed downstairs, they could smell the mouthwatering scent of bacon cooking. On their plates were scrambled eggs to perfection, some red grapes, the bacon fresh from the stove, crispy perfect hashbrowns, fluffy chocolate chip pancakes and- -to top it off- -a glass of fresh orange juice on the side. Candace went downstairs still not feeling quite awake. She was dressed and everything, but she wasn't used to waking up early for school. Nobody spoke a word as the Flynn-Fletchers ate their breakfast, and soon they were off to school. Oddly enough the same bus picked them all up at the same time even though the elementary school kids started a little later than high school. Phineas and Ferb shared a seat, Buford and Baljeet shared a seat, Candace altered between sharing a seat with Jeremy and Stacy, and Marissa and Isabella sat together to talk things out. For the first two days they've mostly talked about school and such.

"I still think you should just tell him how you feel, Isabella. What happened to that 'Emotional Bravery' patch?" Marissa inquired.

"I don't know to be honest. I feel like I missed something on the night with those pharmacists, but I have no clue beyond when we built the vortex sprayer," Isabella replied.

"Yeah, all I remembered was pushing you guys with the bucket toward the water tower then nothing," Marissa commented.

"Wait," Isabella paused, "you remember just before your transformation?"

"I don't know to be honest. I remember seeing Candace getting infected though. I think the whole thing was a blur to everyone."

"Huh, so, what were you doing in school yesterday?" Isabella asked.

"Ugh, syllabuses."

"Yikes, boring."

"Tell me about it. You'd think you only need them the first year of high school, but no, you need them all four years!"

"Wow, all we did was a 'Get to Know You' game."

"Lucky."

Both girls just gigged and continued to talk, not realizing they'd totally dropped the Phineas crush thing. School was a little better for Marissa that day. They actually did school related things like discussing what materials they needed. Marissa even had homework which didn't bother her. Sometimes she liked having homework, and sometimes she didn't. The way she saw it today: at least it's something to do while she waited for Phineas. In a bunch of other classes, they hardly did anything, so she whipped out her sketchbook. She drew a number of things including her desire of Phineas and Isabella to get together. Why did it seem it wasn't going to happen for a long time? The thought of Phinabella just wouldn't leave the teen's head all day. When she got home, she did her homework, but the only homework was math. Marissa was really good at math, so it took her five minutes to do today's math homework. She put her school books away, grabbed a snack and she headed out to the tree once more.

Once again she was alone, waiting under the tree. The clock only read two-forty-five, implying that it'd once again be a long wait for elementary school to get out. She couldn't help but start to think about Phinabella again. It then dawned on her that there was a working time machine in the museum. She had awhile before Phineas was expecting her home, or rather Phineas would be expected home. She could just pop in and see for herself what happens then come back, no harm done, right? She looked around to see Candace was on the sofa talking to Stacy no doubt. Would Candace care if Marissa left for awhile? Pfft, please, Candace could care less what her siblings do as long as it's not bustable. Of course, however, she noticed Marissa leave the backyard, and she caught Marissa before she could take off.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, sis," Candace scolded, and Marissa turned toward her.

"Heh heh," Marissa chuckled nervously, "Hey, Candace."

"Where do you think you're going?"

"To the museum."

"You know Phineas will be back in less than an hour."

"I know, and I have time, really. I'll be back before you know it," Marissa promised with a wink.

"You're not doing anything bustable, are you? If you are, even if you're not with the boys, I'll bust you!"

"Sure you will, Candace. Well see ya."

Before Candace could say another word, Marissa was off to the museum, and she found the time machine exactly where they left it. It then crossed her mind that sometimes they take it apart at times. As she approached it, she could see it was fully operational. She sighed in relief, and she sat down.

"_What time should I go to?" _she thought to herself, "_hm, I guess I could just go ten years later and see what happens. I mean it can't go on for ten more years, right?" _

With that, she set the coordinates, and soon she was soaring through the time stream.


	3. Danville 10 Years Later

Danville didn't look much different ten years later. She ran to the Flynn-Fletcher residence, and she could see Phineas so much older than the one she was used to. Heck, this Phineas was older than her! She approached cautiously, and Phineas nearly jumped at seeing her so young.

"Geez, Marissa, I thought you were in college," Phineas hyperventilated, "How'd you get so young? Wait, don't tell me. Either you played with some sort of age modifier, or you're Marissa from another time."

Marissa blushed, "The second one."

Phineas shook his head with a smile as he playfully rolled his eyes, "How did I know?"

"Because you're smart," Marissa answered.

"So, what's up big sis? Or should I say little sis?"

"Hey, you may be older than this me, but I'm still your older sister."

"Mhm," Phineas teased.

"So, where you off to?"

"Oh, just getting ready to head off to college. Isabella is waiting for me," he replied.

Marissa smiled, "I knew you two would couple up! I just knew it!"

"Yeah, hard to believe it's our two week-iversary. At least that's what Candace says. She makes such a big deal about relationships. After the college tour, I'm taking Isabella out for dinner- -"

"Wait, wait, wait," Marissa interrupted him, "Two weeks? That's how long you two have been together? ONLY TWO WEEKS?!"

"Yeah, wait, did you know she had a crush on me?"

"YOU DIDN'T?!"

Phineas sighed, "Look, there's no need to bring it up. Baljeet told me, and things happened. It's behind us now, Marissa. At least we're together."

Marissa didn't accept this though. She wanted answers, and she wanted them now. She looked Phineas in the eyes, and she asked, "When did you start liking her?"

"Liking her? Oh, I've always liked her. I mean we've always been good friends- -"

"No! I mean had a thing for her!"

"Oh, I think that was around high school."

Marissa's world fell apart. Phineas didn't start liking Isabella that way until high school? That meant all those hints Phineas dropped weren't hints at all. They were just coincidences? Maybe it was just Marissa in Phinabella Land again (hey, Isabella can have Phineasland, Phineas could maybe have had an Isabella Land. Marissa can have a Phinabella Land). Could it be true? Had her mind been lying to her all summer about moments where she thought Phineas liked Isabella back? Was she really _that_ delusional?!

"I…" Marissa trailed off, and she sighed, "I just don't understand."

"What's wrong, sis?"

"I don't understand. H-how did you not know?"

"Absolutely clueless."

"Then why did you drop hints when we, well you, were younger?"

"I dropped hints?"

That did it for Marissa. Her fists shook, and her eyes watered. Her teeth chattered as she fought back tears of anger. She calmed down instantly when she felt Phineas' arms wrap around her, and he pulled her in for a hug. She felt a little strange having Phineas be the older one right now, but his soft t-shirt and long sleeves (even though it was summer, but the clothes were probably pretty breathable) helped to calm her down. She buried her face into his shirt, so her tears weren't exposed. She didn't like Phineas seeing her this way either, but in all fairness, this was a different time Phineas.

After soaking Phineas' t-shirt in tears, Marissa finally calmed down. She lifted her head with her eyes red and puffy. She quickly wiped off what remaining tears she had, and she broke the hug from Phineas. She looked away, for she still didn't want her brother to see her like this- -at least not much longer. With a deep breath, she looked back at him without saying a word.

"Better?" Phineas asked gently, and Marissa nodded, "Good. Now, are you gonna tell me why you're so upset?"

"Well…" Marissa paused trying to find the right words, and she hesitated to say them: "When you were ten- -in the summer that just passed in my time- -Isabella dropped obvious hints of her crush on you, and I thought you, too, were dropping hints of the very same thing- -a crush on her."

"Hm, maybe I did. I don't know. Everyone's been saying I'm kinda clueless," Phineas chuckled, "well at least with social skills."

"But you just said you didn't start having a thing for her until high school."

"Maybe it was earlier. I don't know, sis, maybe I truly had a crush on her in grade school and only started noticing that's what it was in high school. Why are you so upset over this though?"

"Because it's so long of a time, so far away. I thought you and Isabella would get together in school this year in my time, a-and if you really didn't start having a thing for her- -"

"_Knowing_ I had a thing for her," Phineas emphasized.

"Right, knowing you had a thing for her, until high school, then why did I see you drop subtle hints? Was I just imagining them because I wanted it so much?"

"I can't tell you that, Marissa. You have to trust in yourself. They say you have to listen to your heart more than your mind, but sometimes you have to listen to your mind. Sometimes the heart tells us the nice thing to do, but the mind is what helps us differ from wrong and right."

"But most times it is the heart, isn't it?"

"It really depends on the person and heart. If their heart is filled with selfishness and their own needs, then neither their heart or mind are right. However, if a person is kind and only wants to do what's best for everyone else, then their mind and heart conflict with each other a lot. You just have to know what kind of heart a person has; then you'll know."

Marissa smiled at Phineas, and she realized something. It didn't _have_ to be this way! She could go back and get them together sooner rather than later. That way there would be less heartbreak for both of them. Her eyes lit up, and she straightened herself.

"That's it! I'll go back in time and get you guys together sooner! That way there won't be any heartbreak!" she announced excitedly.

"What?!" Phineas panicked, "No, no, no, Marissa, you can't do that."

"Why not? All I'm going to do is get you guys together sooner, so you guys won't go through the heartbreak you went through. It's not like I'm making a HUGE change."

"Actually, Marissa, you would be. Look, time travel is a risky, unstable thing. If you change one thing, you could change everything. The farther back you go and change something, the more change you're bound to make. You need to trust me on this."

"But it won't be a bad change! Really, I want you guys to get together sooner. It'd be so much easier."

"Marissa, there's a reason people don't usually go to other times, especially when they exist. It's dangerous because you could cause something really catastrophic. Just let it be. Isabella and I are a couple now, so everything is alright now."

"But it's so far away."

"I know, but you're going to have to trust me."

"But I wasn't even going to go much farther," Marissa explained.

"No, even going forward in time is dangerous, Marissa, because then you know what's going to happen, and you could accidentally change something. Marissa, take it from me. Time travel is a dangerous game to play. Don't do it anymore, especially by yourself. Also, advise my younger self this too. I did something I shouldn't have involving time travel."

"But if I tell your past self this, then I could change your future," Marissa teased, trying to get Phineas off her back.

Phineas chuckled, "You're catching on. Now, go back to your own time, okay? I promise everything will work out. Please, Marissa?"

Marissa said nothing as she headed back to the museum. She wasn't sure she convinced Phineas, but he wasn't suspicious of her anymore. It wasn't like she was going back to change the very existence of another's life. She wasn't adding something different; she was just speeding it up is all. No harm right? She sat in the time machine, and she set the coordinates to the time she thinks it best to get them together.


	4. The First Day of High School

**Hey everyone...just posting this since it needed to be updated. I'm a little bummed today because the Nickelback concert (which was today) was postponed till July...so...that's that...**

* * *

"Phineas! Ferb! Wake up! It's time for school," Linda called out, and a long arm with a long orange sleeve emerged from the covers of the S.S Phineas. The hand hit the alarm, and disappeared under the covers again.

"Boys!" Linda called out again, and Phineas emerged finally.

"Ugh," the teen yawned and stretched, still dozing as he said, "Ferb, we gotta get ready for first day of high school."

Ferb moaned, and he threw his pillow at Phineas to bugger off. Ferb's throw had gotten a lot stronger, so Phineas had been thrown off his bed. Phineas chuckled as he got up.

"Well, I'm up I guess," he chuckled to his brother, "Come on, Ferb, we gotta get ready."

Ferb just gave a sleepy mumble. He wasn't a morning person like he was when they were kids. Phineas had slowly developed into a later riser, but he was always a morning person. Once the boys hit middle school, Phineas had to get up and get Ferb out of bed. Whenever Phineas was- -on a rare occasion- -sick, Marissa or Candace went in, and they would wake him up. Marissa was usually nice and playful. Candace was too up until Ferb started smacking her away; then she just threw a cold glass of water at him. It was a little funny to watch him spaz out so much. Marissa, if he smacked her away, would just pull off the covers, and keep poking him and repeatedly say his name until finally he got annoyed enough that he would get up. With Candace in college and Marissa leaving soon, Phineas knew that soon he'd have to figure out some machine to wake him up for days when Phineas is too sick to wake him up (or just not want to get close to him if he's contagious). Phineas remembered one method of waking him up was to say there were crumpets on the table. Ferb loved crumpets, so that got him out of bed.

* * *

"_Ferb, there's crumpets for ya," Phineas said in a sing-song voice._

_Ferb's eyes shot open, and Phineas stepped back._

"_If there aren't crumpets, then you're a dead man," he said quietly. _

_Phineas gulped, and he rushed downstairs since Ferb was still drowsy. _

"_Mom! Quick, make some crumpets, or Ferb's gonna kill me!" he panicked._

_Linda just rolled her eyes playfully, "I'll start now, but don't make this a habit, Phineas. You know how much Ferb likes crumpets." _

"_Yeah," he said, a nervous sweat having developed on his forehead._

* * *

Phineas chuckled in his mind at that memory. That was always a funny memory. He then went up to the bed to coax him out from his slumber.

"Ferb, come on, bro," Phineas teased, "Don't make me get Candace. You know she'll throw a glass of cold water on you."

Ferb finally sat up. He didn't want a cold glass of water on his bed today. He gave Phineas a bit of a grumble, then he climbed out of bed. Phineas saw a book on his nightstand, and he gave a bit of an impish smile.

"You were up all night, reading, weren't you?" he asked.

Ferb shrugged him off, and they both got dressed. Once they were dressed, there was a knock on the door. After clearance to come in, Marissa Flynn walked in, twenty years old with her hair in a long braid which wasn't usual, but she decided to put her hair in a braid now that she was older. She'd been working to earn money for college tuition as well as earned scholarships in school, and finally she had enough to pay for tuition as well as other leisure spending. She was leaving for the college tour that day, and she'd be staying the night since her first day was tomorrow.

"Morning, boys," she greeted, "I guess I don't have to come in and wake Ferbooch, huh?"

"Nope, just had to threaten that Candace would come in with a cold glass of water," Phineas said.

"But Candace has been in college for months," Marissa answered, and the sudden realization caused Ferb to push Phineas off the bed they were sitting on.

"Okay, I deserved that," Phineas commented, and Ferb nodded.

Marissa also chuckled, and she helped Phineas up. She stared into his blue eyes. Every time she stared into them, she saw the adorable little boy he was when he was ten and she was fifteen. She couldn't help but smile, and Phineas smiled back.

"What?" he asked.

"Hm?"

"What are you smiling at?"

"You've just...grown so much. I am so proud of you and the young man you're becoming, Phineas."

"We're proud of you too, sis. Good luck at college."

"You know, I don't have to go just yet. I can stay another semester if you want."

"Nope, you're going today, and you're going to have a great time."

Marissa hugged Phineas, and he hugged her back. Since he was older, he didn't do hugs a whole lot anymore, but he hugged his sisters and parents every now and then. He knew she was going to miss him, being in college after all, and he was going to miss her. However, he also knew that Marissa's wanted this for quite some time now, and he wasn't going to keep her from leaving.

"I'm going to miss you so much," Marissa said, her eyes getting misty, "you know that no matter what, you'll always be my little Phinny, right?"

Phineas nodded, "Yes, yes I do. I'm gonna miss you too, but this is what you want. I'm not going to keep you from it. We'll contact each other every day, and we'll update on our lives. We'll see each other for breaks. I mean it's not like you're leaving that far away."

"I know, but it is a bit of a long drive, so I can't visit too often."

"Don't worry, sis, we'll be fine. We're older now, more mature," Phineas assured, and Marissa nodded and headed out the door so they could finish getting ready for their first day of high school.


	5. Not Much Has Changed

The alarm went off, and a girl with a massive bedhead- -you couldn't even see her face- -emerged. She got off the bed, and she walked to her mirror. She reached around for her brush, and she brushed her hair down. She couldn't just shake it off like she did when she was a little girl. The girl was revealed to be none other than Isabella Garcia-Shapiro. Like Phineas, she'd become a little bit of a later riser, but she was still a morning person. She picked up her dog, Pinky, and she set him on the bed.

"Good morning, Pinky," Isabella pet the chihuahua, "today's a big day. It's the first day of high school!"

Pinky just barked in excitement, and Isabella giggled. She went through her closet, and she found her favorite blouse and white jeans. Like she had started to since middle school, she pulled her hair into a ponytail with her signature bow to hold it in. She gazed out the window at the house across the street. She knew the boys were getting ready. Most likely Phineas perky and Ferb groggy.

"Isa!" Vivian called, "It's time for school!"

"Already up, Mom," Isabella called back down, and she headed downstairs, "Good morning, Mom."

"Buenos dias, Isa," Vivian greeted, and she gave Isabella her breakfast.

Suddenly her phone buzzed, for the fireside girls were all texting her, and so was Phineas and even Marissa. Isabella giggled at how popular she was with her friends. She wondered if this was finally her year, that Phineas would finally notice her. Maybe, just maybe…

* * *

Marissa and Linda hugged both the boys one last time before letting them go out to the bus stop. Isabella simultaneously walked down her driveway, and they met. Phineas stopped dead in his tracks as time slowed down, and Isabella's ponytail swung back and forth in slow motion. When her eyes met his, they sparkled and he felt his cheeks heat up. What was this feeling he felt all of a sudden? He'd felt this before somewhat, but this was the strongest that feeling has ever surfaced.

"What'cha doin?" Isabella said in an adorable tone within Phineas' fantasy, and when he heard Isabella's voice say his name, he snapped out of it, "Phineas, I said what'cha doin?"

"Oh, we're just getting ready for the first day of high school. That's all," Phineas said nervously.

"Cool, are you excited?" Isabella asked, oblivious to the fantasy Phineas just had.

"Yep, you?" Phineas asked now back to being himself.

"Yep," Isabella blushed, "Do you know if we have any classes together?"

Phineas seemed distracted all of a sudden as Buford and Baljeet arrived. Isabella knew now Phineas would be way too distracted to talk to. He always was when the whole entourage was together. The gang talked for a few minutes before the bus came.

"Just think," Buford commented, "In a few years, we'll be able to drive to school instead of taking the bus."

Like they did as elementary school kids, Phineas sat with Ferb, Buford sat with Baljeet, and because Marissa wasn't in school anymore, Isabella now sat by herself. The fireside girls always rode different buses, so they met up at school. Susie sat in the seat across from her. It seemed she too was alone (would _you _sit with her?!). Isabella sighed as the boys talked about guy stuff, and she pulled out her phone to listen to some music.

What she didn't know was that Phineas was lost in thought. What was that feeling he felt when he first saw Isabella? He'd always felt something different for her, but what? What was this feeling? He just sighed, trying to figure it out before finally it hit him.

"_I like Isabella…" _


	6. A Small Change

At school, Isabella met up with the fireside girls, and they could already tell she was upset about something. That something was obviously Phineas related since she'd tried for years and wore the same defeated expression.

"Alright, Isabella," Gretchen scolded, "Spill, is it Phineas?"

"As always," answered Isabella with a sigh, "Girls, maybe I've been reading this wrong. What if Phineas isn't even oblivious to my hints but just doesn't care? What if he ignores them because he doesn't know how to say he just wants to be friends?"

"So, what are you suggesting Isabella?" Adyson asked.

"I think…" Isabella bit her lip, "I'm giving up."

The girls gasped at Isabella's remark, that Isabella would give up on Phineas. At the same time though, they understood where she was coming from. She'd tried for years since they were little kids, and nothing happened. It seemed this was hopeless. The girls just nodded, agreeing with their friend's decision.

"Plus, Mom is going to have me work at the restaurant more often anyway, so I don't have time for boys."

The girls said not another word, and they went to class. Who should be in her first class, but Phineas himself?

* * *

The time machine appeared in the museum, and luckily nobody was there to see it. The last thing Marissa needed was for the time machine to disappear on her. The museum looked about the same. She took a deep breath, and she jumped out of the time machine. Taking careful steps, she headed out the door and set out to find Phineas and Isabella. She wondered if she should let them see her or not. Marissa didn't know if she would cause problems if they saw her. Just to be on the safe side, she would remain as unseen as possible. Looking at the time, she knew they'd be in school right now. That didn't stop her. If anything, she could probably get them together during school anyway. She just had to be careful and quick. She didn't want to risk changing anything huge after all. She then remembered that she could easily pass off as a student there. They were about the same age, weren't they? She just had to hide from Phineas and the gang since they'd know it was her after all. Easy enough…

"Okay, all I gotta do is get them to notice each other and feel the same way, and then hopefully they'll fall in love. Phineas did say this was the first day he noticed he'd had a crush on Isabella," Marissa thought out loud.

If she knew Phineas, he'd be in a science class or math class or workshop class. The unfortunate part was that with it being his first year in high school, he didn't have that many electives, and that meant he could be in any class right now. As luck would have it, she could recognize his triangular head in a science classroom. Even better, Isabella wasn't sitting right next to him, but she wasn't too far away either. Marissa made a paper airplane, and she tossed it toward Phineas' spot. She was a little nervous since paper airplanes were very unpredictable. Luckily it hit him right on the nose.

"Huh?" he blinked, and he opened the note.

"_Tell Isabella you like her" _

Phineas looked back at Isabella, and he blushed. How long had he felt this way about her, he wondered. That was when he saw Marissa who quickly tried to hide out of sight with a small panicked squeak. She was quickly out of sight. Phineas shook his head playfully, and he raised his hand.

"Mr. Doofenshmirtz, may I be excused for a second?" he asked politely.

"Oh sure," Doofenshmirtz answered, "By the way, Phineas, you don't have to be so formal with me. You can call me Dr. D like you have since you were kids."

"Yeah, who knew I'd find you as my science teacher," Phineas commented, "I'll be right back."

Phineas walked out there to see Marissa with a sheepish smile.

"Heh, heh, hey little bro," Marissa chuckled nervously.

"Are you from another time? I know my Marissa was getting ready for college this morning, and with Dr. D not building evil inventions anymore you couldn't have been hit by a de-age inator like when we were kids," Phineas replied sportively.

"You're not mad I'm here?" Marissa asked.

"No, just as long as you're not changing something in the past. I'd understand if you wanna see what I look like when I'm your age," Phineas chuckled.

"_That's right. The Phineas I saw in the future is after this, so this Phineas couldn't know the conversation I had about time travel," _Marissa thought.

"So what's up, sis? Why'd you send that note?"

"You don't know?"

"Uh...no."

"Just tell Isabella how you feel. Please? Pick her as your lab partner and tell her. Don't hold it inside for four years."

"What?"

"Eek, nothing, just tell her," Marissa begged.

"Well, okay then," Phineas replied, and he went inside.

Marissa could only watch as Phineas went up to her, and Isabella threw her arms around him. Unfortunately, Marissa couldn't see what was going on, but she could tell he told her. Doofenshmirtz pointed at them a little, probably for PDA or something like that. Marissa smiled, knowing her work was done. As she headed back to the time machine, she was stopped.

"Hey, Marissa! Wait up," Phineas called from behind, and Isabella was with.

"Um, don't you two have classes?"

"We had a free period since Dr. D didn't wanna go through some boring syllabus, so he let us just have a free period for the day since we weren't starting anything till tomorrow. I'm so proud he gave up evil."

"Phineas, you're distracted," Isabella replied in a sing-song tone.

"Right, anyway, I wanted to thank you, Marissa. I had no idea she liked me back all these years. You're right, I probably would have bottled up my feelings for four years," Phineas chuckled, "Anyway, see ya."

Marissa smiled, and she headed back. She thought about visiting the future just to see what all happened since they got together sooner. Were they even closer than ever? Were they prom king and queen? Only time would tell. She had to know. Plus, she wanted to prove Phineas was wrong about the whole time stream thing. Everything was probably just fine if not better, she thought. Pfft, nothing to worry about right? She set the coordinates, and she soared through time yet again.


	7. Changed A LOT

The museum still looked the same to her. Then again, museums never really change all that much unless there's new exhibits added or whatever. She rushed over to Phineas' house to see just how well he and Isabella were doing. It then dawned on her that they both were already in college. Phineas' car was gone, and the lights were off in his room.

"Hm, what school were they going to?" she thought outloud, but she suddenly saw the shape of Phineas' head moving in the darkness of his room.

That meant he was home still. Why were the lights dim? She shrugged, and she rang the doorbell. Nobody answered which meant Phineas might have been the only one home for the moment with Linda and Lawrence probably at some antique convention or whatever. Candace was obviously at college since this was ten years later than her time. That meant her older self was too. Ferb was most likely in college too. The question plagued her mind: why was Phineas home? There was no answer from the door, so she rang it again.

"Ah! Knock it off, I'm coming!" Phineas yelled from inside, and he opened the door, "What?"

When Marissa saw him, she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Phineas didn't look like himself. His clothes were worn down, his hair was oily and looked like it hadn't been cleaned in weeks. His teeth were yellow, and his eyes had bags and dark circles underneath. His shoes had no soles in them, and his toenails were long and disgusting. He stunk really bad too. Marissa had to resist gagging and plugging her nose. Phineas just leaned against the door frame, and he crossed his arms. Marissa was surprised at the lack of facial hair, but she ignored it.

"Phineas? Wh-what happened to you?" she asked.

"I'll tell you what," Phineas answered in a low voice.

* * *

**Five Years Ago**

_Marissa had left, and Phineas walked Isabella back to the school. As they walked, they held hands, and they couldn't stop smiling. They couldn't believe this was happening. _

"_Am I dreaming?" Phineas asked, "I mean, I'm going out with the prettiest, cutest girl I know." _

_Isabella giggled, "I'm going out with the hottest guy I know." _

"_I don't know," Phineas teased, "Ferb's pretty handsome." _

_Isabella pushed him playfully, and they exchanged a kiss. Isabella then gave a small frown. After all, how did she know this would last? _

"_Hey, what's wrong?" Phineas asked. _

"_It's just…" she trailed off, and sighed when she found the words she was looking for: "I'm afraid this won't last what with you always focusing on your inventions and all that. You've been focusing on your inventions so much for so long that you never even noticed me. I couldn't have been more obvious when I gave hints." _

_Phineas caressed her cheek, "Not anymore. From now on, you have all my attention."_

* * *

"And when I said all my attention, I meant _all_ my attention," Phineas continued, "I stopped inventing, and I stopped focusing on school. She was all that was on my mind for years. I didn't care about anything else anymore. She was all I wanted and needed."

"I don't understand. Why are you like this though?"

"Well, I ended up flunking out of high school. I eventually said 'To hell with it', and I dropped out. I was sick of doing classes I didn't care about anymore. I didn't care about school anymore. Unfortunately, even though I dropped out, Isabella still seemed to juggle time with me and time for school work. She went off to college, and I just stayed here. I didn't have the only thing that mattered to me anymore, and so I let myself go. I was still in love with her, but she fell out of love with me. I stopped caring about anything anymore. I haven't talked to Ferb since he left for college, and Mom and Dad are always on business trips. I basically live here by myself a majority of the time."

"What about food?"

"Mom and Dad go grocery shopping when they get home usually. I have a feeling they're getting sick of me though. I really messed my life up, and now I- -"

"You can fix it though. Come on," Marissa said, and she pulled him out into the sunlight.

Phineas hissed like a vampire, and he shielded his eyes, "Aaah! The sun!"

"Don't be a baby, come on," she pulled him, and soon they were at the museum again, "This is the time machine you built when you were younger. You can use it to go back and fix your mistakes if you want. I used it when I went to get you two together."

"Wait, what?"

"Well, I went forward in time to see when you guys would get together, and I was upset since it wasn't till after high school, so I went back and got you guys together sooner."

"You mean..._you_ did this?" Phineas said, his face turning red, and his fists curling up, "_You _ruined my life? You mean to tell me that you _did _change something about the past?!"

"I didn't mean for things to happen like th-"

"I don't care what you meant! You changed something that was just fine without you?!"

Marissa could see his fists were on the time machine, and he was starting to break it. She tried to calm him down, but he just got angrier.

"My life would have been just fine without you meddling in it?! Do you know how FURIOUS I am with you, Marissa?! You ruined my life all because you wanted us to get together sooner!"

"But we can fix that. We can go back and tell yourself in the past not to drop out of everything. We can fix this-"

"No! You're DONE with time travel, Marissa," Phineas said, and he grabbed a large mallet that was near the fire extinguisher.

Marissa panicked as she realized what Phineas was going to do, "Phineas, no...No don't!"

It was too late; the time machine lied in smithereens with Phineas angrily holding the mallet, breathing heavily. Now, not only could Marissa not go back and fix this...but she was stuck in another time possibly forever.


	8. Finding Answers

"I needed that!" Marissa screamed, "Phineas, now I'm stuck in another time!"

"You should have thought about that when you meddled with someone's life! I thought you cared about me, Marissa!"

"I do! I thought-"

"Whatever it is, you thought wrong!"

Phineas stormed off from the museum, leaving Marissa kneeling in the debris of the time machine. She picked up the one item that wasn't crushed, the purple light bulb, and she held it in her hands. How was she going to get back now? With the time machine destroyed and Marissa not knowing how to build things, there was no way to go back to her own time or even fix the mess she made. How much more messed up is this time, she wondered, and why would Isabella just leave Phineas like that? Guess that was her next stop, but first she needed to make another stop.

"Whoa, you suddenly got younger," Vanessa answered the door, "What happened?"

"Vanessa, I'm from another time, and I need you to drive me somewhere," Marissa answered, "also I need to ask you something."

"What's that?"

"Where did Isabella go to college?"

Vanessa invited her inside since she didn't quite know, and she'd have to give Ferb a call as she said. Marissa wondered if they became a couple because of the change she made in the timestream or if that had happened naturally, and that'd just stayed the same? Marissa sat down on the sofa for Vanessa's house. It was a nice house too. Vanessa had offered her a drink and a snack. With that, she picked up her phone, and she dialed Ferb's number. She just hoped he wasn't too busy right now.

"Hey, Ferb," Vanessa said when he picked up, "I have a question. You said Isabella was in college, right? Do you know where she went?"

Marissa just waited, wondering why on Earth Isabella would just abandon Phineas like that. She had some explaining to do. Vanessa hung up with Ferb after getting her answer and saying she loves and misses Ferb. She turned back to Marissa who- -upon hearing Vanessa say goodbye and thanks- -turned back to Vanessa.

"Alright, so she's in Tri-State State. You still want me to drive you there?"

Marissa nodded, and soon they were off. It wasn't too far of a drive, was it? The drive was quiet for the most part besides Vanessa asking Marissa what was going on and why she was younger and needed to see Isabella so bad. Marissa didn't answer in a lot of words though. She couldn't believe what happened. How did this go wrong? She sighed, and let the wind blow her hair as Vanessa's car cruised through the Tri-State Area.

* * *

Classes were over, and Isabella was sitting in her room. She was lucky and didn't get a roommate since she didn't really get along with any of the girls at her school. It wasn't that she was enemies with them. She just didn't really connect with anyone like her friends back at home. A bunch of guys hitted on her too, asking if she was single. She never answered since she didn't want anything to do with them. Truly her heart still belonged to Phineas no matter what, but how could she stand to watch as he ruined his life? She sat on her bed with her laptop, working on today's assignment, and suddenly she heard her cell phone ring.

"Isabella, here," she answered.

"Miss, you seem to have a visitor," replied the voice on the other line.

"A visitor? Who?"

"A Vanessa Doofenshmirtz and Marissa Flynn."

"Oh, um, alright, send them up."

"Ms. Flynn has asked to speak to you alone while Ms. Doofenshmirtz stays down here."

"Alright, send her up, I guess."

She closed up her laptop, and she picked up some papers off her desk chair so that Marissa could sit down. Why would Marissa be here of all places right now, and with Vanessa even? There was a knock on the door, and after getting Isabella's consent, in walked Marissa. Isabella was quite shocked to see her so young. Marissa was shocked to see her so much older. She was beautiful. She'd never seen Isabella when she went forward in time the first time.

"Oh, hi, Marissa," Isabella greeted, directing her to the comfy desk chair, "I was expecting you to be a little older."

"Yeah, I've been getting that a lot today," Marissa replied, and she stared in awe at the beautiful woman Isabella's become, "Wow, you're so pretty."

Isabella gave a small giggle, "Thank you, so what can I do for ya?"

Marissa bit her lip since she was so nervous to say this: "Why did you just abandon Phineas?"

"What? What are you talking about?"

"You just let him ruin his life ever since he flunked! You should have helped him, Isabella! Now's he's lost everything! He lost the love of his life, the life he could have had!"

"I didn't ruin his life!"

"You could have helped him instead of let him fall through the cracks, especially since he gave up everything for YOU!"

"I-" Isabella cut herself off, "wait, for me?"

"Yeah, and you broke his heart when you fell out of love with him!"

Isabella was speechless, and Marissa was furious. Isabella had no words to say. She was too shocked to hear that Phineas thought that. Marissa ignored her shocked expression, and she angrily stood up. Clearly Isabella wasn't going to be of any help. Before Marissa could get to the door, however, Isabella reached out, and she grabbed Marissa's wrist- -her face written with a desperate concern.

"Marissa, wait," she pleaded, and she pulled Marissa so they were both sitting on the bed, "please tell me what happened to him. Is he hurt?"

"Not physically."

Isabella sighed, "You know why I left him? It wasn't because I didn't love him anymore, Marissa. It was because I loved him too much to see him become that way. I hated to see him suffer like that. Remember when we were kids and somehow you always sensed when he or I was upset?"

"Yeah."

"It always bothered you and hurt you to see us so upset, right?" Isabella asked, and Marissa nodded, "That's what it was like for me. Phineas was suffering, and I couldn't stand to see it. I thought maybe my absence would have helped straighten his priorities again. I didn't know I would be hurting him even more. I'm so sorry, Marissa."

Marissa had no words. It wasn't her Isabella should be apologizing to. It was Phineas. Isabella gently directed her chin so she was looking at her eyes. For a split second, Marissa could see the Isabella back in her time. Missing the younger versions of her siblings and their friends, she burst into tears. Isabella was quick to comfort her.

Marissa's words couldn't be understood through her sobs, but it was clear she was mad at herself for what happened. Isabella swore she heard something about not being able to go back and fix it, but it wasn't clear with her sobbing into her blouse. Isabella could only hug her and comfort her as Marissa poured her tears. Finally, Isabella heard Marissa stop sobbing, and she let her sit up. That was twice Marissa burst into tears today- -well actually second time since she'd woken up...ya know, since she'd been through many different days.

"Marissa, what do you mean you can't go back to your own time?" Isabella asked in the most gentle way she could.

"Phineas destroyed the time machine out of anger, and now I can't even go back to fix this. This is all my fault. I should've listened to him when he told me not to change time."

"What?"

"In an alternate timeline, you and Phineas got together at the end of summer after high school, and I wanted to change it. Phineas said no, but I didn't listen. I went ahead and did it anyway, and now I can't even go back and fix it since I don't know how to build."

Isabella frowned, "Isn't there anyone else?"

"I don't know. Phineas is the only one I knew who could build a time machine, and now he hates me."

"He doesn't hate you, Marissa. In fact, it probably pains him that he's so mad at you for this. Phineas could never hate you. He's your brother. Maybe you should talk to him again."

Marissa stood up, and she headed for the door, "I doubt it'll help."

With that, she was off back to Vanessa to take her back to Danville.


	9. Still A Family

Marissa rested her cheek in her hand as she stared at the scenery. The drive was as quiet on the way back as it was on their way up. Vanessa only talked, but Marissa didn't respond. She was too depressed to answer. Phineas was miserable, Isabella was guilty, and there was no way to fix this mistake because Phineas broke the time machine. Vanessa and Ferb seemed to be okay, but how did she know more disaster wasn't caused? It dawned on Marissa that she didn't have a place to sleep, and it'd be dark by the time they got back to Danville. She wondered if Phineas would let her sleep in her old bed at home since the future her was at college. As she pulled out her phone, she realized her phone would only contact people from her time.

"What's up?" Vanessa asked.

"Do you have Phineas' number?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Can I see it?"

Vanessa handed Marissa her cell phone, and Marissa found Phineas' number under contacts, and she pressed call. It rang a couple times, and finally from the receiver she could hear his voice:

"_Hello?" _

"H-Hey, Phineas."

"_Marissa? Why are you calling from Vanessa's cell phone? Don't you have your own?" _

"I do, but it won't call or text people of this time."

"_Okay, fair, so what do you want?" _

"Well, Vanessa and I are on our way back to Danville, and it's getting late. I was wondering if I could sleep in my bed at home."

Phineas didn't say anything more for awhile, but after a couple seconds, he replied, "_Alright. You still afraid of fire? I could cook you some dinner if you want me to." _

"If you want to I suppose. I'll see you later. Hey, Phineas?"

"_Hm?" _

"Take a shower and clean yourself up. You know it bugs me to see you that way."

"_Yeah...We'll see." _

They both hung up, and Marissa slid Vanessa's phone back into her purse. Vanessa looked back at her, "You know, you could have stayed at my place if you wanted."

"Thanks, Vanessa, but I think I want to stay at home with my brother. Nobody else is there for him right now. I figure I might as well try."

"Alright, do you want me to drop you off there?"

"Sure, that'd be great."

"Alright then."

* * *

After Phineas hung up, he got out of bed, and he cleaned Marissa's bed off. Ever since he started throwing away his life, everybody seemed to leave him. Marissa had said goodbye to him when she left for college, but that was about it. Same went for everyone. In the early days of his downfall, everyone tried to help him except the one person he wanted most. Little had he known Marissa was still just as concerned as she always was. She didn't love him any less than she did before. If anything, like Isabella, she loved him too much to watch him do this to his life. As he cleared off his sister's bed, he found something. There was an envelope with his name on it under her pillow. She'd hoped he'd have seen it when she left. Phineas stared at the envelope, and he contemplated whether or not to open it. He decided now wasn't the time. He tossed it onto his desk, and he went and got in the shower so he was clean. He admitted it did feel good to take a shower and get clean after so long of not. He threw on a fresh shirt and jeans, and he got a fresh pair of sneakers. It felt strange being clean and back to his old self again, but despite his anger with her, he still cared for Marissa. He broke the time machine, stranding her here. The least he could do was be a good brother to her. He was still angry at her, but he couldn't just leave her like everyone left him. He wasn't that kind of person, even with his life being thrown away by his own choices. Plus to be honest…

It'd be nice to have some company and someone to talk to for once.

* * *

The doorbell rang, and Phineas answered. Marissa was happy to see Phineas had cleaned up nicely. His hair was even in its natural spiky shape again. She waved to Vanessa, and Phineas let her in. He had to admit seeing her so young again was strange, but at the same time it was kind of adorable.

"Will Mom and Dad care?"

"No, they won't be home for a month yet anyway," Phineas replied.

"Must be some business trip," Marissa replied, and Phineas nodded.

"I admit, it's kinda strange being so clean again, and seeing you so young. Guess I'm kind of the big brother now instead of the little brother."

"Yeah."

Phineas went to the kitchen, and he came back with a plate of one of Marissa's favorites- -spaghetti. He sat down next to her, and they ate. They didn't speak much, and the silence was unnerving. Phineas could sense her turmoil, and he put on one of their favorite movies in the background. Marissa was a little nervous given Phineas was so angry with her earlier, but casually she would scoot closer to Phineas until before either of them knew it, she was leaning on him. She quickly sat up and looked away apologetically.

"Hey, it's okay. I won't bite, ya know," Phineas teased, and he wrapped his arm around her as she leaned into him again.

Once they finished their spaghetti, Phineas took the plates to the kitchen, and he brought out some ice cream. Oddly enough he had cookies 'n cream, Marissa's favorite. She was starting to think maybe he'd gone grocery shopping before she came over. She shrugged as they ate their ice cream and watched the movie. Not much more was said between the two, and eventually the two headed upstairs.

"Need anything?"

"No, I think I'm good."

"Alright," Phineas answered, and he turned to her after shutting off the lights, "Hey, I'm...really glad you're here, Marissa. I really haven't had someone here for me for years. Mom and Dad have supported me and gotten groceries and such for me. However, I have a feeling they're getting sick of me doing nothing with my life."

"Well, if it's any consolation, Isabella still loves you," Marissa said, and she turned away to go to sleep, "Thanks for letting me stay here."

Before Phineas could bring the matter further, his exhausted sister had fallen asleep. He sighed, "Yeah, no problem, sis."


	10. Another Sad Twist

Marissa was the first to wake, and Phineas was still asleep on his bed. He'd definitely cleaned up the room since Marissa had fallen asleep. It wasn't spotless, but it was significantly cleaner in the room. Phineas was conked pretty hard, snoring lightly to which Marissa gently poked the tip of his nose, and he twitched it- -like he did when he was little- -and turned to his side. Even as a teeanger, Marissa couldn't get over how adorable he was. She went downstairs to make some breakfast, and she couldn't help but ask…

"Hey, where's Perry?"

"He's gone."

Marissa jumped at Phineas leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed, fully awake, but at the same time he wasn't quite awake.

"Perry left when everyone else did. I guess he didn't like seeing me this way either. God, I really screwed up, didn't I?"

"Well, it is my fault since I meddled with time," Marissa sighed, "You were right. I shouldn't have messed with what was already there. I let my own selfish needs get in the way of what was right. I wasn't listening to my heart at all. I didn't think about the consequences like Dr. D."

A light bulb went off in Marissa's head, and she smiled wide. Phineas was unable to say what he was going to say, that he wasn't even mad at her anymore, before she was out the door.

He sighed, "I don't hate you, sis...I never could."

* * *

_Doofenshmirtz Mmhmm Incorporated _

Heinz was just sitting in his chair doing the daily crossover. Ever since Perry...well, he didn't like to talk about it. Ever since Perry left, he'd done nothing with his life. He quit his job at the high school, and he just never did as much anymore. Nothing was worth it anymore without Perry the Platypus. Perry was his only friend to be honest. Once he became a science teacher and gave up evil, L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N shunned him and banned him from them. Heinz had realized they weren't even friends to begin with. He tried to re-inflate Balooney every month or so, but he's deflated within a week. Vanessa visited every so often, but she was saddened to see nothing changing with her father. It came to the point where he'd talk and practice with Pretendy the Practicepus, but it just wasn't the same. Even those nice kids from the night with the Repulse-Inator didn't visit anymore. Heinz had seen Phineas flunking out, and he started to worry about the kid. He'd since not really been involved with life anymore. He'd leave and go get groceries and keep himself healthy, but- -a lot like Phineas- -he'd sat around doing nothing once he quit. Back when Phineas was a good student, always getting his homework in, Heinz had a reason to go to work and be happy about it rather than 'gotta go because it's work'. He'd like the students, especially Phineas and Ferb. He wondered what exactly happened to the kid.

"Hm, four letter word for when you can't seem to get out of something...Also a form of dance and music," Heinz pondered.

"Funk?"

"Yes!" Heinz brightened, "Funk, that's it- Wait what?"

He turned to see Marissa Flynn, fifteen years again, standing over by his door. He'd remembered Marissa. She was a good kid in class too although she never really had her own friends much. She'd always be waiting for the day to be over since she was kind of a loner in high school. Oh sure, she got along with everybody most of the time. She just didn't connect with anyone of her friends, not to mention she had some trust issues with them because of a certain friend that stabbed her in the back. Heinz would watch her doodle when she was done with an assignment. He'd also learned to tell between her 'This was easy. I'm done' drawing time and her 'I'm confused but I don't really wanna ask for help' drawing time. All the kids would call Marissa a teacher's pet since Heinz spent a lot of time helping her and talking with her. Both didn't seem to mind.

Shaking the thought out of his head, he looked back at her, "Um, thanks. So, can I ask what you're doing here and why you look like the first day you walked into my class?"

Marissa ignored the teacher-student topic, and she took a deep breath, "I need you to fix something for me. You see…"

Marissa trailed off, biting her lip before she finally sighed, "Okay, so I'm technically supposed to be in another time."

"No, really?" Heinz retorted sarcastically but with a smile, "I thought you were just hit with an Age-Inator."

"You made one of those?"

"Well I once made a device that turns people into babies-"

"Oh, that's how that happened. I was racking my brain all day trying to figure that out that day," Marissa replied.

"And I did make a machine that would age my cheese, but-"

"Focus, Heinz," Marissa said sternly but politely, "So, there's a time machine in the museum pretty badly busted, and I need someone to fix it."

Heinz bit his lip, "I'm sorry to tell you this, kiddo, but I haven't built anything in years since I gave up evil. I thought about making a Mid-Life Crisis Inator, but don't have the motivation. I wish I could help, but I don't think I can. Sorry. Ever since Perry the Platypus left, I haven't been the same."

"Wait, he's not here either?"

"You don't know, do you?"

"Know what? Phineas told me Perry just left."

"Perry the Platypus was depressed that Phineas was so upset and doing this to himself all the time. He couldn't stand to be near Phineas like that because he was hurting himself so bad. Unfortunately, Perry the Platypus was so upset on his way out that he didn't see a large truck coming and…"

Marissa gasped, "You mean Perry's d-dead?"

Heinz blinked his tears away, and he nodded, "He was so distracted when it came along. I didn't even know until I'd gone outside for something, maybe to go to the grocery store. I didn't have the heart to tell Phineas since it would just break him more. His ashes are right over there in my shrine I built to him when he was run over."

Marissa went over, and she gently picked up the box with Perry's ashes. Heinz was right: Phineas would be heartbroken for sure. She held the box, and her tears fell silently before she collapsed to her knees, and cried holding the box.

"No, no, this can't be happening! Not Perry! Please no!" Marissa sobbed, "This is all my fault. First, Phineas with his depression and now Perry?! No!"

Heinz went up to her, and he put his hand on her shoulder, "It's not your fault."

"Yes it is," Marissa said wiping her tears, "There's a reason I need the time machine fixed."

"You messed with the timestream, didn't you?"

Marissa nodded, "I changed something because I thought it would make things better...but I only hurt everyone."

"I wish I could help, but I'm afraid I can't. I'm sorry."

Marissa sighed, "Well...thanks anyway. I better get back h-I mean back to Phineas' then since I'm stuck here. See ya, Heinz."

Marissa sadly walked out, and Heinz sighed, "See ya, Marissa."

* * *

Marissa's words echoed in Isabella's head. She couldn't even focus on school today. All that was on her mind was Marissa's words and Phineas' hurt face. She'd been called out twice for not pay attention to the teacher or the assignments. After class, her instructor asked her to stay after, so she could talk to her.

"Isabella, this isn't like you. I know you've only been here for two weeks, but I've never seen you this upset. Is something bothering you?"

Isabella sighed, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Don't be so sure of that. Now come on, tell me what's wrong."

"Well…" Isabella trailed off trying to find the least crazy answer she could find: "My boyfriend's sister came and talked to me yesterday. She told me he was hurting and thought that I'd fallen out of love with him."

"I see, what makes you think I wouldn't have believed that?"

"The girl that visited me yesterday is his older sister, but she came to me at age fifteen. She was from another time."

The instructor's eyes widened at this. Time travel was possible? Even back then? She looked back at Isabella who was looking down at her feet.

"Go on."

"Well, she'd then told me that it was her fault this was happening because she meddled with time, and now she's stuck in this time. I can't get her words and Phineas out of my head. I just don't know what to do. Can you give me any advice?"

"Why is he hurting?"

"Well, he flunked out of high school because- Er, not important. He thinks I fell out of love with him, but he's got it all wrong. I love him too much to watch him do this to himself. I just don't know what to do. There's no way I can focus on my studies today."

"Why don't you go to your dorm, and clear your head for awhile, I'll let your instructors know ahead of time. Alright?"

Isabella sighed; that did seem to be the only option since she couldn't work like this. She nodded, and she took her stuff back to her room. She laid on the bed, and she stared at the ceiling.

* * *

**So...that's that for this chapter. I know it's pretty sad, but this is an alternate timeline. Anyway, stay tuned for next chapter. **

**Carpe Diem**


	11. What Went Wrong?

**So...Last Day of Summer was on last night, and I loved it. I admit there were episodes I liked more than this one, but it was still a good episode for sure! I bought it on iTunes the second I woke up this morning (yeah 4am because I was too warm and couldn't sleep -_- *sigh*). Anyway, I think soon I'll be posting a story full of 1-2 shots with my OC's add-ins for the show. That one will be updated less frequently since it's not a huge priority with me. I have a bunch of other stories that take priority (such as this one). Anyway, the writer's block I had for this story is solved (I subconsciously wrote the solution to my writer's block without even knowing it at the time). I own this story, Marissa Flynn and the song 'What Went Wrong'. I love how the song turned out. I wrote the song awhile ago and I'm glad I finally get to post the chapter with this song. (Don't get the song confused with 'Where Did We Go Wrong' from PnF Christmas Vacation (which for the record, I DID write a song called 'Where Did We Go Wrong' before I saw that special but it was a totally different scenario. I wish I could find my old lyrics for it :( ah well) anyway leave me a review and enjoy! **

* * *

Marissa just walked back to Phineas' house. It was a decent amount of walk time. She'd left Perry's ashes with Heinz since she would probably drop them on the way home. She was such a klutz. As she walked, she couldn't stop thinking about how wrong this went. Phineas' funk, everybody just leaving him to suffer, Heinz's funk and now Perry's death. What next? Were Ferb and Vanessa going to break up since Ferb left Phineas, and Vanessa didn't like that? Realizing her thought, she looked up at the sky.

"Please don't make that happen too. I'm just…How did this go so wrong, Phineas? I didn't mean for all this to happen. I just..."

_What went wrong_

_I swear I only meant_

_to fix something that I_

_thought needed my assistance _

_but it seems_

_I only made things worse _

_but I didn't see_

_the danger in the distance _

_You tried to warn me_

_but I didn't wanna hear it_

_that 'time travel is risky_

_don't even go near it'_

_I wish I'd heeded your warning_

_then I wouldn't be in this predicament _

_they're not even concerning _

_this wasn't my intent_

_What went wrong?_

_I was mistaken_

_I didn't mean for all this_

_damage that was taken_

_Now all I want_

_is to make this right_

_to fix this mess_

_and bring this darkness to light_

_I've got to be strong_

_and right this wrong_

Phineas had gone back to his room, and he tripped over something. When he scowled at it, he could see a picture from when they were kids. They were dancing and celebrating their victory of traveling the world, singing 'Summer Belongs to You'. He missed those times. He held the picture in his hand as he sat on the bed.

_What went wrong?_

_I thought that you'd be mine_

_when I dropped everything_

_and gave you all my attention _

Isabella was looking at the exact same picture in her photo album, wishing it was simple like that again where they just had fun all their life. She even missed the obliviousness since it was annoying but adorable.

_What went wrong?_

_I didn't mean to seem_

_like I didn't care_

_That wasn't my intention _

Split screen as both Phineas and Isabella sing.

_I guess it seemed _

_like I was trying to push you away_

_I should have listened_

_to what you were trying to say_

Phineas stared at how cute Isabella looked in that picture.

_I shouldn't have dropped everything _

_to focus on just my affection_

Isabella turned the page, and she saw a picture of all five of them: Buford, Baljeet, Ferb, Phineas and herself on their middle school graduation day.

_I should've helped you _

_and led you in the right direction_

Phineas looked out the window, knowing Marissa had left, and he knew how she felt. He knew she thought he hated her, but he didn't.

_I should have opened my eyes to which I was blind_

_but it never even crossed my mind_

_What went wrong?_

_I was mistaken_

_I didn't mean for all this_

_damage that was taken_

_Now all I want_

_is to make this right_

_to fix this mess_

_and bring this darkness to light_

_I've got to be strong_

_and right this wrong_

Marissa just continued to walk as everything that's happened plagued her mind. Meanwhile Isabella just continued to flip through the photo album, and Phineas just stared at the ceiling.

_All I did was let you fall_

_I let go, and now I've taken the fall_

_I should've just let the chips fall_

Split screen of all three singing: Marissa walking slowly and sadly, Phineas sitting on the bed looking at the ceiling and Isabella looking through her photo album. Also a key change.

_What went wrong? _

_I was mistaken _

_I didn't mean for all this_

_damage that was taken_

_Now all I want_

_is to make this right_

_to fix this mess_

_and bring this darkness to light_

_I've got to be strong_

_and right this wrong_

_I've got to be strong _

_and right this wrong_

Marissa sighed, "I've gotta right this wrong."

Isabella closed up her scrapbook, grabbed her purse, and headed out the door.

Phineas looked at the envelope on the dresser. There was no reason not to open it now.

"Well," he sighed, "I guess now's a good time as ever to read it."

He was careful not to break the seal, and he opened it. Inside, there was a letter written by Future (his time) Marissa.

_Dear Phineas, _

_I know by the time you read this, I'll be long gone in college. Somehow I always figured you out before you figured yourself out. I also know that Isabella still loves you. I just wanted to give you some advice. Don't waste your life because you thought it was over. I know I'm four years too late to say don't waste your life to impress someone, but live your life to the fullest. Isabella is worth every minute of your life. Don't get me wrong on that. The thing you need to realize is that Isabella isn't the only thing in life. You have your family that loves you and incredible talents. I know you think your life is over and ruined forever, but it's not. You can still turn this around, Phin. You're still young. You can go back and take the GED test. You're not stupid, Phineas Flynn, and the brother I know would never give up forever. Sometimes you just need a little push. I haven't seen you smile in years (for one thing I'm in college and haven't seen you) but even on my visits home, I see you depressed. You know it always bothers me when you're upset. Just because you think you threw your life away doesn't mean you don't have a second chance. Prove to everyone you aren't an idiot that wasted your life. Go back to inventing, take the GED, go to college. You're not a loser...so win Isabella back. You don't have to win my love back because you never lost it. I'll see you when I get home, and I expect a smile on that adorable triangular headed face of yours. I just want your happiness back. You'll always be my little Phinny. _

_Love, Marissa. _

Phineas couldn't help but smile, and his eyes got misty as he fought back tears. He put the note down, and he went outside. He had to find Isabella, but when he got outside, the letter…

...was gone.

* * *

**Well, that can't be good. What does this all mean?! You'll see why it's REALLY bad in a later chapter, but for now. **

**Carpe Diem...man I'm going to miss that show...**

**Phineas: *hugs me* better? **

**Better ^_^**


	12. A New Twist

Marissa had ran as fast as she could to the time machine only to find the debris were all gone, and she had no idea where they went. She could see one of the museum workers over by her mom's favorite bone exhibit, and she approached.

"Excuse me, do you know where the time machine exhibit was taken?" she asked politely.

"That old piece of rubble is going to the dump to be incinerated. No sense in trying to fix that old piece of junk," the workerman said walking away as Marissa stood petrified with her eyes widened.

The last piece of hope she had to fix this was on its way to the incinerator. She ran as fast as she could out of the museum, and sprinted to the dump. She couldn't waste any time otherwise she'd be stuck here forever and not be able to fix things. She couldn't let Phineas suffer because of a mistake she made. She just couldn't. She really wished she had those shoes the boys made when they were kids, but couldn't think about that. She needed to think about nothing but getting to the city dump and save the time machine. Suddenly, she felt herself trip over an eroded piece of sidewalk, and skidded across the ground. Her knees were covered with blood and her hands were red with scratches. She fought tears as she tried to get up, and she leaned against the nearest stop sign for support. She knew she'd be too late to save the time machine now. She limped as she turned around, and she limped back to Phineas' house to patch herself up.

Little had she known there was a large van of criminals making their getaway, and they wouldn't stop for anything, not even a poor girl limping across the street...

* * *

Meanwhile, Phineas had rushed out to find Marissa to tell her what he just found when he saw Isabella pull over upon seeing him.

"Isabella? What are you doing here?!" Phineas exclaimed in a panic from what he'd just witnessed.

"Marissa came to me yesterday, and she told me-" Isabella said apologetically, but Phineas cut her off because he was in a hurry.

"Explain later, we have to find her. Something bad is happening!"

"What? Wait, what's going on, Phineas?"

"I'll explain later, look, we have to find Past Marissa quickly. Can you give me a ride?"

"Hop in."

Phineas wasted no time getting in the passenger seat of the car and putting his seatbelt on. Soon as he was buckled in, Isabella drove as fast as she could without breaking the speed limit. Phineas wasn't aware that she was in more danger now than she was when the picture disappeared. He pulled out his cellphone, and it dawned on him he can't call her cellphone because it's ten years old. He panicked then called Vanessa, but there was no answer.

"Where could she be? She ran outside so suddenly earlier. She'd mentioned Dr. D then-That's it! She went to Dr. D's to see if he could build the time machine!" he exclaimed, and he searched for Ferb's contact, "Ferb, this is urgent. I need Dr. D's number."

Ferb gave him the number, and he called. Isabella just focused on the road as Phineas panicked. What could have happened all of a sudden? After talking to Ferb, Phineas hung up, and he dialed Heinz's number. When he picked up, Heinz was calm but confused to be getting a call from Phineas.

"Dr. D, it's Phineas, and I need to know if Marissa is still with you!...She's gone?! You've gotta be kidding me-" his body jerked forward as Isabella slammed on the brakes, "I gotta go. Thanks. What was that for, Isabella?!"

"This person slammed on his brakes too and wait isn't that Marissa over there limping across that street?"

Phineas looked out the window, and indeed it was her. She was covered in smeared blood from her scrapes, and what's worse was that despite a red light, there was a van coming straight at her. Phineas mustered up all his strength and speed, and he sprinted as fast as his legs could carry him. Just before the van could hit them, he was able to pick her up and save her. On the sidewalk, he sat her down gently. They both seemed to be out of breath, and he knelt in front of her.

"Are you crazy?" Phineas screamed at her, "If I hadn't come along, you know you would have been crushed?! Damn it, Marissa!"

Marissa looked at the ground in shame. She should have been more careful, and now she was going to be stuck here forever, "I-I'm sorry. I was trying to get to the dump so I could save the time machine from the incinerator, and I tripped and fell. I guess I didn't see the van coming."

"Damn right you didn't! God, are you trying to get yourself killed?!" Phineas screamed at her, but seeing she was still hurt and already felt guilty, he softened, and he sighed, "Look, let's just get back to my house and get you cleaned up."

Marissa nodded, and Phineas helped her stand up and walk to the car when suddenly she collapsed and he was quick to catch her.

* * *

Phineas carried Marissa to the car, and they headed back to his place. Phineas had sat in the backseat with Marissa to support the unconscious teenager. If this time anomaly was already starting to catch up to her, that meant his time Marissa was probably gone already, and they needed to find out how to fix this and fast.

"Are you going to explain to me what's going on, Phineas?" Isabella asked.

"Past Marissa has been in the future too long. If she's been here this long-"

"Then she couldn't have grown up with us therefore the Marissa we thought we grew up with never existed!" Isabella finished in realization.

"Yes, and if we don't hurry, time will catch up with all of us too. Marissa had left me that note which helped me snap back into my old self and motivated me to go out looking for you and..." Phineas stalled out as his eyes widened in horror. The sound of a car crash haunted his mind, "Oh no..."

"What?"

"Th-the note! Our time Marissa wrote me the note, and so I had the motivation to go out looking for you and Past Marissa to tell her I'm sorry and such. If our Marissa doesn't exist, neither does that note. Subtract the note from today, what happens?"

"You don't go out looking for me or Past Marissa," replied Isabella.

"Exactly, and what was happening with Past Marissa at that exact moment?"

"She was trying to save the time machine, and she got hurt."

"And?"

"Well, she was crossing the street as a van was..." Isabella gasped, and the car nearly crashed as she lost control, "So when time catches up with everything, then we'll forget our Marissa and that note ever existed."

"Exactly, and we have to hurry before it does. Without our Marissa, there is no note."

"Without the note, you don't go out looking for us."

"And without that note to send me out...there's nobody to save her from being hit by that van..."


	13. A Resolution

Phineas held Marissa in his grasp, thankful that there didn't seem to be any scratches- -minus the scrapes and scratches she got from skidding across the sidewalk- -symbolizing the van crashed into her. He didn't know what to do now. It'd been years since he'd invented something. He remembered Marissa had said something about saving the time machine. That meant the time machine was beyond fixing, and he'd have to make a whole new one. Isabella looked in her mirror to see Phineas' concerned face.

"So, what are we going to do?" she asked.

"I don't know. I don't know if I can build again, Isabella. It's been years," Phineas sighed, "The time machine she came in is gone now, and I don't know if I can build a brand new one from scratch."

Isabella pulled over the car, and she turned toward him, "Phineas, I know you don't think you can, but I know you can. You just have to get back into the spirit. I know I shouldn't have left you, and I'm sorry about that. We can talk about that later. Right now, she needs you now more than ever, so you need to at least try."

Phineas looked down at Marissa, feeling guilty. He blamed her for his mistakes, and then he stranded her in another time completely. Then to put salt on the wound, he made her think he hated her for a mistake. She couldn't have known what the repercussions were of her choice. Her heart was in the right place. What kind of brother was he for doing this to her? Isabella was right. She needed him. With a determined glare, he looked at Isabella and nodded.

"You're right, I can't give up. She wouldn't give up on me," he said, and he remembered the note, "she never did."

Isabella gave a determined smile with a nod, and they drove back to Phineas' house where the tools would be. Obviously, he'd need to order some parts, but first he had to draw out the blueprints. As he felt Marissa stir a little, he gasped.

"Ph...Phineas?" she whimpered weakly.

"Sh, it's okay. We're going to fix this," Phineas assured her, pulling her into a hug. Marissa leaned into him, and she clung to him, "We're going back to my house to build a new time machine. Isabella will get you cleaned up while I work on the blueprint, okay?"

Although Marissa wasn't facing up (her cheeks were against his stomach), he didn't need to see it to know Marissa nodded. She needed rest for now. He then couldn't help but notice something strange about the watch Marissa was wearing. The time was way too wrong to be displaying the time of day. Looking closer, he could see the last numbers were moving fast and backwards with every second.

"Isabella! Marissa's watch shows how much time we have before time catches up with us!" Phineas announced, startling Marissa a little, "Oops, sorry, Marissa."

She settled once more, and Phineas placed his hand on her back to comfort her slightly. Please let him not be too late.

* * *

Soon as they got back to Phineas' house, Phineas gently handed Marissa to Isabella who carried her inside to the bathroom. Being girls, they weren't really bothered by Isabella having to undress and place Marissa in the bathtub.

Meanwhile, Phineas got to work on the time machine blueprints right away. Many crumpled up pieces of paper later, he finally had one that might work. He rushed inside the house to see Marissa cleaned up and resting in her bed. Isabella sat with her to make sure everything was okay.

"I think I got it, Isabella. We just need to order the parts," Phineas said quietly so as not to wake Marissa, "Hey, what is she wearing if her clothes are covered in blood and probably in the washer?"

"I ran back home to get one of my old dresses for her. They fit her perfectly," Isabella answered, "Phineas, do you think we're going to make it?"

Glancing at the watch- -in sight- -Phineas sighed, "I hope so."

They had no more than twenty four hours total...now decreased to five hours.

* * *

"_Stay strong, Marissa…" _

Marissa opened her eyes to see she was face to face with Phineas, but it wasn't the teen Phineas. It was her Phineas: tiny, short squeaky voiced Phineas.

"Phineas?"

"_Listen to me, you have to stay strong. You'll get through this." _

"But what if I just mess up again?"

"_That doesn't matter right now. Right now, future me needs you to stay strong. You can't give in to the darkness that's trying to pull you. I don't mean evil, by the way, I mean eternal darkness like-"_

"Yeah, I get it," Marissa answered back, "but I'm not strong, Phineas. I don't even know what's happening."

"_You know exactly what's happening. The time stream has been disturbed, and on its current path, something will happen to you. Time is slowly catching up to you, but you can't give in. You have to fight." _

Marissa nodded. Phineas was right; she had to fight and not give up.

* * *

Marissa slowly opened her eyes, and she reached for Isabella's hand. Isabella gasped, and she called in Phineas.

"Phineas, she's awake," Isabella said.

Phineas gasped, "Marissa? Don't fight too hard, okay? You'll be fine. Just relax."

Marissa slowly sat up, "I have to...go back…"

"We're working on a time machine right now, Marissa. Just hang in there," Phineas pleaded.

Isabella left the room to go get some food for Marissa. She was probably very hungry now. Marissa weakly got out of bed, and she stumbled across the room. Phineas was quick to catch her for support when needed. When it came to the stairs, he wasn't taking chances, and he scooped her up into his arms. It was then that Phineas saw Marissa's watch was acting strange. The watch itself looked familiar. It was then he realized.

* * *

_"Are you sure this is a good idea?"_

_"Of course, Ferb! Why wouldn't it be?"_

_Phineas set down the watch onto the work table. "We've been trying to figure out something to do today," he said, "This isn't exactly something for the entirety of it, but it's a good start, don'tcha think?"_

_"I just think that we should inform Marissa before tinkering with her things," Ferb said._

_"Don't worry about that," Phineas said, "I've done this sort of thing before with her, even before you and I met. Besides, she gave me a surprise gift last time, and this time it's my turn."_

_"Surprise...gift...?"_

_"It's a fun little thing we do once in a while. Kinda like a birthday or Christmas, except it's not."_

_"Ah, I see. Well, in that case, I don't see what's wrong with this then."_

_Phineas nodded. "Then let's do it," he said, "It'll be just like the time we fixed Candace's phone! It'll have all kinds of new attachments and stuff, like a tracker, or a mini movie screen, or-or..." he grinned, "The ability to go through time!"_

_Ferb raised an eyebrow at this, suddenly getting flashes of a future Candace telling them never to mess with the fabric of time and space again. He brushed it off, figuring that it was only his own imagination. He and Phineas went to work right away, the project lasting for about an hour or two before Isabella came in, asking what they were doing that day. Phineas even tested it before giving it to Marissa._

_She was pleasantly surprised that her watch had been fixed. Unfortunately, Phineas wasn't able to explain much more before the rest of the gang came in, leaving them to wait until later to discuss the watch. Of course, by the time Phineas would have remembered again, the siblings had been distracted by everything else around them as well as giggling at Candace saying 'but, but, but,' with the daily invention disappearing. Of course the joke was on her since the invention was on the recipient's wrist. _

_"Hey, Phin," Marissa said just before pulling the covers over herself- -as each sibling climbed into their respectable beds- -, "Thanks for fixing my watch. My turn next time." _

_The two exchanged a wink, and Marissa was sound asleep. Just as she fell asleep, Phineas remembered he hadn't explained any of the new features. She'll figure them out as she plays with it, right? Right. _

_"You still think it's such a good idea to have put in a time-travel mechanism?" Ferb blinked in wonder._

_"No worries, bro," Phineas said, "If I know my sister, or anything about the days we've had, I'd say that she's gonna be needing some of that in a much later time in life."_

_He didn't know how absolutely right he was._

* * *

"Isabella!" he shouted, and he carried Marissa to the kitchen, "Isabella, we don't NEED a time machine!"

"What? Isn't that how we're fixing this whole fiasco?" Isabella asked.

"I'd completely forgotten that Ferb and I modified Marissa's watch when we were kids! One of the features we included was a time machine! Marissa's watch IS a time machine!"

"Oh yeah! I remember now!" Isabella cried out in realization.

Phineas' excited expression became a slightly nervous as he looked down at Marissa who was staring curiously at the watch remembering that Phineas had fixed it for her.

"There's a small catch though," Phineas said, and he sat Marissa down, "Only the wearer of the watch can go, and...they go alone."

"Wait, are you saying we have to send Past Marissa back in her current state?!" Isabella panicked, "Phineas, she looks like she could collapse at any moment!"

"I know but...it's our only chance," Phineas said, and he noticed Marissa was standing up with a determined glare, "Marissa?"

"Show me how it works."


	14. Fixing the Future

"So, you get how important it is that you hurry but don't push yourself too hard, right?"

Marissa nodded, "Hurry and stop myself from changing the future without pushing myself to the point of exhaustion."

"And do NOT let anyone in that time see you, past me, past Isabella, that time you, just the you that's out of place. Okay?" Phineas instructed.

Marissa nodded once more. Isabella didn't seem to keen on letting Marissa do this alone, but what choice did they have? She sat back as Marissa activated the watch. Phineas helped her find the right time, and soon she was gone.

"Do you think she can do this?" Isabella asked.

"I know she can," Phineas replied, "she has to."

* * *

Marissa found herself in the backyard, so the watch worked just like the time machine in the museum. You end up in the same spot you left just in another time. Feeling a small injury start to creep its way onto her leg, she knew she had to hurry. Making sure the coast was clear, she headed off to the high school. She knew that's where past her would be going to get Phineas and Isabella together. She had to fight the twinge of pain as more injuries slowly made their way into her skin. Isabella had told her not to push herself too hard, but Marissa knew she had to hurry. From a large distance- -since the parking lot was dead- -she could see a small flash of pink and black running into the high school. This caused her to shout out and pick up her speed. The other Marissa seemed not to notice, and she continued on.

Suddenly, Marissa got a sort of adrenaline rush as she ran as fast as she could to the school. If the other Marissa got to the classroom before she could stop her, it'd be too late. Finally she could see her dead ahead about to write the note.

"NO STOP!" Marissa called, and she tackled her other self.

"What the! Are you me?!" the other Marissa- -in much better condition- -asked.

"Yes, and I'm telling you now that you CAN'T do this!" Marissa answered back in a sort of whisper yell, "I know what you're thinking, that Phineas and Isabella would be a great couple if you get them together now, well I'm from a future where you-I mean I-succeeded."

"Really? How was it? Were they prom king and queen?" the other Marissa asked.

"No, it was worse...look just trust me on this. Please?" Marissa pleaded, "There isn't much time to set things right, and if you set this chain of events...then we die."

Other Marissa's eyes wided, "Really?"

"Yes, so just...let it be. Let the chips fall."

Other Marissa sighed, and she nodded. Suddenly Marissa could feel as her strength returned, and the other Marissa faded away. She was glad she kept the memory of that awful chain of events, for she didn't want to cause them again.

"Yeah...let the chips fall."

* * *

**Yeah, yeah, short chapter because I CAN! Deal with it! Lol, anyway, this is the second to last chapter. Leave me a review please and thank you. **


	15. Just a Few More Jumps

Marissa watched as everything happened the way it was supposed to- -making sure she stayed hidden- -and then it crossed her mind that she was curious of the true fate of Phinabella. Once she knew she was alone and safe to speak, she looked down at the watch.

"Just one more jump," she said, and she jumped through time once more.

Since she jumped from the High School, she ended up there. Luckily- -although the doors were locked- -she'd found ways to get out without causing a ruckus. It wasn't that she was one to try to escape school, just sometimes she'd accidentally get locked in. Reasons, not important, but anyway, she went through one of her favorite secret exits. Kinda funny they never closed it off, and she ran to Phineas' house again. She could see him still loading up the car which meant that conversation she had was still fresh in his mind. She gently approached.

"Phineas?"

"Geez, you have ways of sneaking up on me. What's up?"

"I just…" Marissa bit her lip trying to find the words, and she finally found them: "I wanna know how it happened."

Phineas chuckled, "You didn't listen to my warning, you went back in time then found out you made a huge change, and you fixed it. Now you wanna know how Isabella and I naturally got together, am I right?"

Marissa blushed, "Yeah...you knew I would go back regardless of your warning?"

"I know you," Phineas replied, "but I also knew that you'd have to see for yourself to learn the lesson and that you'd fix it once you knew. So, you wanna know how Isabella and I finally got together, huh?"

Marissa nodded with that sparkle Phineas never was able to resist, even when he was little.

"Alright, don't let yourself be seen, and go ahead and just back two more weeks. What time of day you want to jump is up to you. Remember not to be seen, okay?"

Marissa smiled, and she set her watch to take her back. She could see the door open, and Phineas walked out. Before he could see her, she jumped into the bush.

"Wow, I'm having such trouble processing this. A walk to clear my head will help though," he said out loud to himself.

Marissa followed him, making sure to keep hidden, and he stopped to help Nana Shapiro.

"_She hasn't changed at all," _Marissa thought, and she could hear the conversation.

Phineas had quickly taken off, and so she followed him. Clearly, he was going to talk to Isabella. She kinda wondered where Isabella was, but she was following Phineas, so she'd probably find out. Soon enough, he arrived at a restaurant. But he came outside, a sad look upon his eyes. Marissa always hated seeing Phineas so sad.

_I can't believe that all this time you_

_never said a word _

_Although it's possible you did_

_and I just never heard _

_I never even noticed_

_I guess I wasn't that alert _

_but I must say that in retrospect _

_you were being quite overt _

Marissa seemed mesmerized by his voice. Even ten years later, he still has a beautiful voice.

_and now our endless summer _

_is finally coming to an end _

_I tried to make the most of every day _

_but now the years just seem misspent _

_what might have been _

Marissa frowned in concern now, that her brother feels so sad right now. It took every ounce of her not to run out and say everything works out. She just continued to follow him now. She couldn't help but feel Phineas was the other half of a duet. Probably Isabella on the other side.

_I could have been your fella_

_We might've been an item _

Marissa always imagined their ship name being Phinabella.

_I would've held the door for you_

_I would've shared my umbrella _

Marissa frowned at the things that romance they could have shared for so long, but she knew this was what's best for them despite the heartbreak now.

_We could've been together_

_all you had to say was when_

_and though I wanted so much more_

_I guess you'll always be my friend_

_but what might have been _

_what might have been _

Marissa gave a small sigh, "What might have been."

Now she really felt both timelines had their ups and downs, but at least Perry was alive in this one, and though Phineas was miserable right now, he wasn't miserable for so many years. Indeed, this was the better timeline. She continued to follow Phineas. Finally, he was back home, walking. He looked at Isabella's house, but when a truck took off. There she was on his front step, sitting. Marissa couldn't get over how beautiful she looked. Their eyes met, and Marissa had to hold back a squeal when Phineas approached and delivered Isabella's catchphrase.

"Is this step taken?" he asked, and Isabella gestured for him to sit.

Marissa swooned as she watched from the bushes.

"I actually came by to...say goodbye to you," Isabella said.

"Off to school, huh?"

"Yeah, I'm going in early cuz I'm in RA…"

She seemed to trail off in Marissa's mind as she listed everything she was in. Dam she's gonna be busy.

"So, Baljeet said something funny," Phineas said as Marissa finally was brought back to reality, "He said you had a crush on me back in grade school."

"Oh, yeah," Isabella answered with a blush, "I had a big crush on you."

"Wow," Phineas replied, "I had no idea."

Marissa just about screamed out, but she bit her lip.

"Really? I thought I was being so obvious," Isabella said as she seemed hurt he didn't know.

"Absolutely clueless," Phineas defended, but he too seemed to fall in expression, "Sorry."

There was a short pause, and Marissa sighed in sadness. Why did it have to happen this way? Couldn't at least this day have gone without the misery? No, she had to leave it alone.

"I sorta gave up when we got to high school," Isabella said, not meeting his eyes.

"Yeah," Phineas said, "I think that's when I started having a thing for you."

At this, both Marissa and Isabella's eyes seemed to click in realization, but then Marissa realized she knew this. Why was she surprised? Maybe just the blow of the reveal she guessed.

"Well," Isabella thought outloud, "that's unfortunate timing."

"Yep," Phineas replied sadly, "you're off to college."

"Tri-State State," Isabella answered, and she looked at him again, "Have you decided where you're going?"

Phineas' face brightened, to which Marissa was confused.

"You know what?" he said, and he took out an envelope, "I just did."

Isabella took the envelope, and she seemed disappointed, "Oh…"

"Hey, what's wr-oh shoot!" Phineas took it away, and he took out the right one, "Wrong letter."

Marissa gave a soft giggle that he'd confuse the letters, and Isabella smiled.

"Well, I guess I'll see you in two weeks then," she said.

"Yes, yes you will."

Marissa tuned out as more people were clapping, however she was snapped back as she saw Vanessa pull up. She gasped happily as Vanessa and Ferb kissed. So that happened too then. She saw as Phineas hopped in, and she followed again. They stopped by Isabella's car, and Phineas hopped out.

"Phineas?" Isabella said, and she got out of the car, "What are you doing?"

Phineas caressed her cheeks, and Marissa had to resist squealing and jumping for joy as he kissed her, "This."

They held their position kissing, and Vanessa and Ferb pulled away as they broke.

"Well, that was worth the wait," Isabella said dreamily.

"Yes, yes it was," Phineas replied, and they returned to kissling, but they broke away again, "So...two weeks. Think you can wait for me that long?"

Isabella nodded, as she got into the car, "Yeah, I think I can. Just don't keep me waiting much longer than that."

"Call me soon as you get settled in, okay?"

Isabella nodded, "I will. I love you, Phineas."

"I love you too," Phineas replied, and Isabella drove off.

Marissa could no longer hold it, and she screamed with excitement, giving away her position.

"Marissa? What are you doing here, and so young? I thought you were on your way back to Tri-State U."

Marissa squeaked like a mouse, and suddenly she was gone again, leaving a very confused Phineas.

"Well...I guess that happened."

* * *

Back in regular time, Phineas just got home from school, but Marissa was still nowhere to be found. He wondered where his sister could have gone. Candace was upstairs doing whatever, but then he could see her burst through the gate.

"PHINEAS!" Marissa ran in, and she picked him up, hugging him tightly, "I'm so happy to see you so small again!"

"Uh, hi, Marissa," Phineas said with a smile, "what do you mean small again?"

Marissa put him down, "Oh nothing."

She giggled, and the gang all got started on today's project. She couldn't help but smile when Phineas and Isabella smiled at each other. Indeed, it was a long time away, but in the meantime, she'd just…

Let the chips fall.


End file.
